Overcoming the Epidemic of Apathy

Hello, and welcome to the Salt Church Podcast. Thank you for tuning in to this week's message. Join us as we explore God's Word providing practical teaching for day-to-day living. The message you are about to hear was recorded live at our Sunday morning worship experience. If you would like to learn more about Salt Church, please visit us at saltchurch.

org. We hope that you are encouraged by today's message. Well, we're in a series called Overcomer. This is week two of Overcomer. Last week, we talked about the curse of comparison.

Curse of comparison. And what we're doing, we're digging in. Let me just go back for a second. What we're doing, we're digging in these key issues. And there's a lot of issues we deal with, but we want to be overcomers, right?

I mean, God has given us the ability to overcome the world. He says, I have already overcome the world. I have won the victory. Just step into what I have. Step into the victory I have.

And we deal with, like, random issues all the time. And a lot of times, these things can hold us back from being all that God has called us to be. And one of those is comparisons. And we talked about comparisons. We launched a series talking about how comparisons, comparing ourselves to others, I'm trying to keep up with her, I'm trying to keep up with him, or I'm better than her, or I'm better than him, or I'm not as good as her, and I'm not as good as him.

And we go through these thoughts in our head, and it keeps us from being who we are. Because we are just who we are. God has created us a certain way. It's no mistake the way we've been made and built, right? And we tend to want to be something else, or someone else, or do something else, or go somewhere else, when it's right in front of us.

Everything he's given us is perfect. Perfect. Because God's perfect. And yes, we're rolling through this world trying to figure ourselves out, but God's already got something for you. Just lean into him, instead of focusing on the comparison game.

And I don't want to go into that too much. I could probably teach another sermon on that. But you can go back and visit the message from last week. Next week's going to be really good, because we're going to deal with the lie of labels. We've been labeled.

Perhaps you've been labeled something. I've been labeled something. But that label doesn't define us. So you need to come back next week and hear that. Invite a friend that may be dealing with life, and dealing with identity issues.

And we're going to talk about labels. But this week is going to be a hard one, okay? And it's dealing with apathy. The epidemic of apathy, is what I call it. Because we live in a time of a generation where apathy is alive, it's real, it's heavy.

Probably a time where we experience more apathy than any other time in history. At least in current event history. Apathy. And I want to make a, kind of to set this up, I want to make a personal confession that I deal with it often. It's not something that is easy for me to confess, but it is.

It's a real issue. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we had the Hurricane Florence that came through. And this was probably the most extreme hurricane. I'm from eastern North Carolina, so it kind of, I had a family that was in it. I still have family in Wilmington that are dealing with some things going on.

And, you know, when it first happened and everything was, it was like the tragedy of people losing their homes and children being without and all these things, you know, just broke my heart. It wrecked me. It wrecked me. And I began to, you know, pray about it and Facebook, social media about it, you know, and push the church to do, you know, to get involved. And then you go back to your regular activities, you get back into your comfortable life and with your kids and your backyard and everything's good for you.

You didn't have a storm here. And that's how it happened. And I just forgot. I forgot. And God convicted me just a few days ago as I was studying this.

It says, you know, there's still people out there that are hurting. There's still people out there in North Carolina that don't have anything. And you've forgotten. And so many times we forget, we get stirred, but then we get back to life and we get into our comfortable by the beach, by the pool, in our own backyards where we're healthy and comfortable. And although there's nothing wrong with being comfortable in life, we're so comfortable and we're so blessed that we tend to forget that there's things out there that have to be done, that we're called as a church even to be involved in life-changing things and society-changing things.

So we lack interest. We lack passion. We lack concern. And as I look in the Gospels, if you'll turn with me to Luke 10, 25, there was an occasion that Jesus actually talked about apathy. And it says, on one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

And I think it's interesting that he was testing Jesus here. He knew what he was doing. What was his expert in the law? This was like a lawyer. And it wasn't just a United States lawyer like we think of it.

This was a religious law guy. This was probably a Pharisee of some type or someone who knew the law of God. And he wanted to test Jesus. And Jesus was always being tested by these teachers of the law because they wanted to kind of pin him in a corner. And they couldn't pin Jesus in a corner because he's Jesus.

You know, he's awesome, right? He knew his stuff even more than they did. So here he is trying to test Jesus, this expert of the law. And he says this, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And he says, what do I have to do?

What's, in other words, what's the least possible thing I have to do? That's really what he was getting at. What do I have to do? Up to what point do I have to do this to achieve eternal life? What point can I stop?

It's like us, you know, how, what can I, what's the least possible thing I can do to get my job done? Have you run into those kind of people? Maybe you're one of those people. What's the least possible grade that I can get to pass my class? If I can only get that D plus, just, just enough.

You know, I've been there. Have you been there? I've been there. You know, what can I do just to get that? This is a, you know, just that D plus.

Or how can I get just enough done to my car to pass the inspection? You know, how can I just get enough? And I don't want to do a whole lot, but I want to do just enough to get by. And that's what this expert of the law was challenging Jesus at. How much do I need to do?

What's enough? How much is enough? And then I love how Jesus responds. Jesus responds with a question. He doesn't answer it.

He wants him to answer the question. And he says, he says this after he says, what is written in the law? He replied, how do you read it? And then the man answered, love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. And in Jesus answered, you have answered correctly.

Do this and you will live. But this expert in the law, he wasn't through. He wanted to justify himself. Some of you are asking, what is he trying to justify himself on? Well, when that neighbor as yourself principle is there, there were certain laws that were set up.

And these were man laws. These were not God laws. These were man laws in the Jewish custom that they weren't to associate with certain types of people. And some of these people were called Samaritans. And Samaritans were considered half-breeds.

They weren't Jewish. They were half-Jewish. They were half-Jewish. and half Gentile, and we don't associate with them, so I'm going to get Jesus once again, and I say, okay, let me justify myself. And he asked this, he says, who is my neighbor?

Who is my neighbor? Because I'm sure it was going through his head, there's these people that we don't associate with because we're Jews. And we're people of law. So who is my neighbor? And he justified himself.

And who do I have to love? Who do I have to care for? You know, is there certain people that I could care for and others that I can't? Jesus, who do I care for? How far do I go with these people?

And then he begins to share a parable. And this parable is about, we call this the Good Samaritan. Some of you know this by principle, even if you haven't been in church, or this is your first time in church for a while, you've probably heard the parable of the Good Samaritan. There was this man that was robbed on a path on the way to Jerusalem and Judea. And he was robbed and left for dead.

And then Jesus goes into the parable. He says this, a priest happened to be going down the same road. A priest, okay? Can you underline that? A priest happened to be going down.

A pastor happened to be going down. A church leader happened to be going down the road. Somebody religious, somebody of high principle happened to be going down the road. And he saw the man. And he saw the man.

And what did he do? Underline this, he passed by on the other side. He passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite. So this was another religious hierarchy kind of person.

You know, he was from the family, the religious elite, the one that understood the law, the one that was actually called out to handle the law. Now, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, what did he do? Again, passed by on the other side. This is probably the greatest example of apathy in the Bible. It's not my problem.

It's not worth the effort to me. I'm busy. I got to get somewhere. I'm doing this. Somebody else will help them.

The risk is too much. What if this man, what if these robbers come out again? The risk is too great. I don't have the finances. I don't have the ability.

There's always an excuse, right? Right? And this, so what do we do? We pass them on by. They pass them by.

I've got things to do, so I'm passing them on by. And I'll be honest, our generation is probably the greatest generation in recent history that deals with apathy. In fact, we have been called the meh generation. Meh. Meh.

I'm concerned, but meh. You know, I'm okay, but meh, you know, what can I do? Meh. I mean, there's a lot of things going on. They'll figure it out, you know.

Somebody will help. Somebody will do something. Meh. You know? And that's what we're called, the meh generation.

The meh generation. I was having a conversation with a man one day who, and we were talking about, you know, world missions. And I have a heart for third world countries and what's going on there, and particularly children and not having and being sold into sex trafficking and slavery and things like that. And families really not knowing and can't afford it to live so they have no choice. And I'm just sharing and pouring my heart to this man about what, you know, how we need to really help.

And we need to go in these countries, and we need to teach them and help them economic development type stuff. You know, it's sustainable development type things, you know, in communities so these places can be healthier. And he just kind of looks at me, and he says, I don't care. I said, you don't care? I said, what does that mean?

It kind of shook me. I'm like, wow, you know, he says, well, they were born there, and I was born here. And I'm concerned about my family here. And that's there, they're there, and I'm here. What concern is that to me?

I'm sorry that they were born in a place where they couldn't, they have no help or they have a poor quality of life. But that's no concern of mine. And that's a bit extreme, but there are people out there, and our generation does reflect that. So what? I'm born in America.

You know? Like you chose to be born in America. You say, Jesus put me in America, right? Is that what we did? That's the way it sounded, you know?

But people are really like that. People are really like that. And for many of us, we may care. We may not be at that extreme, but we are apathetic. We're just kind of, meh, you know?

That's just how it is, and that's what's going on. So why don't we care like Jesus calls us to care? Why are we like this? Why do we act like this? Why do we have this type of, and there's a few things here I want to share with you.

And I think they're very, very, very practical. I think the first one is the volume of information is overwhelming. The volume of information is overwhelming. I mean, think about it. We're constantly bombarded by news, right?

There's things going on all over the place. We just had an earthquake in Indonesia, right? So we see that, and we're just devastated by the amount of people who have died. And then on 25th Street, a cat falls in a hole, and then we're thinking about that, right? And then there's a car bomb in Syria.

And then there's another GoFundMe page, you know? There's always a GoFundMe page every week. And then somebody posted about their French toast being disgusting. So we're thinking about that, you know? And then we're bouncing around.

And then, you know, we had, just this past week, we had the autistic child was missing. And how awful, you know, they think they found the body. And we see all this stuff, and it just wrecks us. But there's just so much going on. And we can't care for everything, right?

So we just think, there's just too many things to care about. How can I keep up with it all? How can I keep up with these things? Because we're overwhelmed with information. There's such a volume of information out there, and it affects us and leads us into apathetic thinking.

Number two, we feel helpless to make a change. Because we're overwhelmed with information, we feel helpless to make a change. And it's hard to care a lot about something when you can't do much about it. Because there's just so much going on. I mean, we want to do something, but life is just crazy.

There's so much going on. We're trying to pass our chemistry test in college, right? Or we're trying to potty train a two-year-old. Or we're just overwhelmed with our problems in life, you know? So my dishwasher went out and all this.

You know, I got a lot to think about. How could I have time to think about the helpless, you know? And there's just so much happening. How can I possibly make any difference? And it leads us into apathetic thinking.

And then thirdly, and I want to camp on this for a second, we have a bittersweet relationship with comfort. We have a bittersweet relationship with comfort. We are both blessed with comfort and cursed with comfort. What do I mean by blessed with comfort? Well, I'll go back.

You didn't choose to be born here, but you were born here. And we live in one of the most blessed, prosperous nations in the world. In fact, we're even above Western culture. You know, in Western culture, we're of the top. And we've been given, and we have everything we want, everything we could possibly need.

Indeed, we are blessed, but because we are blessed, we are cursed because we have first world issues, right? We have issues because our pizza app didn't work right, and they sent the wrong topping to my address, and I'm mad, you know? We're aggravated. We binge watch Netflix, and we get aggravated because it's buffering. What's wrong with Cox Cable?

Why can't they get it right, you know? I pay a lot of money for my internet access. I've got to binge watch my show. We've got first world issues. We've got a lot of problems.

When our online grocery order gives us the off-brand instead of the on-brand, or the new brand, or the name brand, and we're so frustrated, I don't like the off-brand, I ordered this one, it was on sale, and that's the one I wanted, because we have first world issues, so, the volume of information is overwhelming, we feel helpless to make a change, and we have a bittersweet relationship. With comfort, because life is all about us, and it leads us into a state of apathy, I don't really care, I don't really have time, I don't, how do we overcome this, because we want to be overcomers, God calls us to be overcomers, how do we, how do we overcome this epidemic of apathy, here's a key phrase here, as I was, I was reading a professor kind of shared this one, one time, I forgot his name, back in the day, but I remember him coining the phrase righteous tension, righteous tension, and, and we need to consistently expose ourselves to something that creates righteous tension, a righteous tension, let me explain what a righteous tension is, it's something that makes us uncomfortable, it's a, it's a discomfort, if you want to call it a righteous discomfort, it's a burden that just shakes us to the core, that we just can't get away from, something that, that, that we're, we're, we're yearning for, and we consistently go back to that burden, that hurt, whatever that is, it could be something different for, for you than it is for me, but we're consistently going back to that, because here's the thing, lack of consistency results in lack of interest, so we're continually going back to the tension, we're continually going back to the discomfort, and we stir up that discomfort in our lives and in our hearts, because a lack of consistency results in a lack of interest, a lack of consistency results in a lack of interest, let me give you an example, you go to a missions trip, and you come back, and you come back, and you're fired up, and you're ready to change the world, and it's exciting, but without consistency, life brings us back to apathy, because once we leave the high of, of, of what we experienced over in the other country, where we're able to help people, we were, where we were able to see what most of the world is going through, and we're able to help, and, and, and it does something to us, when we bring it back home, we're back to square one, because our first world problems begin to step in again, when bills come due, we, we, we break a fingernail, you know, or our mascara runs, or whatever it is, we, we, we scuff our vans, you know, and we're just kind of like, we're worried about that, you know, more than, or, or, or if you're a sports person, maybe Jordans, whatever they are, we're more concerned about those things than we are, so, so we get away from those, and we fade into apathetic thinking, we go back to our first world issues, so we need to create, we need to stir a righteous tension, a righteous discomfort, lean into whatever makes you righteously comfortable, uncomfortable, excuse me, lean into what makes you righteously uncomfortable, and your apathy will transform into a fierce, righteous passion, consistently, I think about Paul, a man who hated Christians, he was called Saul, Saul of Tarsus, and then he had this encounter with Jesus, and it completely changed his life, his heart completely turned a 180, he, he, it just radically changed his life, and here he is, speaking about his fellow Jews, his fellow men, I'm, I'm, and I'm taking this, I mean, this, just, just a 180, this man, it says, with Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truth, truthfulness, my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it, my heart is filled with bitter sorrow, and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters, in fact, it goes, it goes so far to say this, I would be willing to be forever cursed, forever cursed, and cut off from Christ, if that would save them, I would be willing to be forever ever cursed, and cut off from Christ, meaning I would, I would rather be damned to hell than, than, than ever, I have bitter sorrow, I have unending grief for my people, and that, that, that was his passion, that was his stirring, that was the uncomfortable tension that he had in his heart, Paul's tension is what drove him, and when you have that kind of tension, you're willing to do and give anything, everything, you have a passion, it's, it's, it's, it's a impossible to sit back, it's impossible to do nothing, because you want to move forward, and you want, you, you, you, you, you want to see God work, and move you to make a difference, it's a passion, an unending passion, so we need to channel our passions, we need to channel our passion, we all have a passion, we all have a stirring, so how do we, how do we channel those passions, and let's be honest, there's a lot of, of, of things that we can do, but the first point I want to make is, you got to focus on something, you can't focus on everything, but you can focus on something, you need to narrow down your scope, and focus on something, there's, many things will catch your attention, but few things will capture your heart, many things will capture your attention, because there's a lot of things going on in the world, but there are few things that will capture your heart, maybe there's something that you have a passion, something that's captured your heart, maybe you have a heart for the unborn, maybe that's your venue, that's your thing, you have, you have this desire to, to, for the unborn, or maybe a racial injustice, maybe that's your passion, that you want to see, you know, you want to see either justice take place in that area or human trafficking, maybe that's your passion or you're interested in seeing clean water in communities to help change a community and you've watched that happen and you wanna be a part of that or maybe you had somebody pass away with cancer that was dear to you and you wanna be a part of cancer research and be a part of that and raise money for that and be involved in that or maybe you wanna foster or adopt a child, maybe that's your passion. Maybe student ministry is your passion. You wanna help and coach and mentor students and young people into a growing relationship with Christ. Maybe that's your thing.

Maybe it is overseas mission. Maybe it's discipleship. Maybe it's a small group, a salt group that you wanna start and be a part of or bring people together to disciple. Maybe it's mental illness. Maybe you had a porn addiction at some point in your life and you wanna help people be free from pornography and you have a special place for that or maybe it's alcohol, maybe it's drugs, whatever it is, maybe you have that passion.

Find your, many things will catch your attention but few things capture your heart. Find what's capturing your, what captures your heart. Find out what captures your heart. What is God calling you to? Because I'd rather make a huge difference in one thing than a small difference in many.

Rather than making a little difference in many things, we can make a big difference in something. It might be overwhelming. There might be a lot of things. Maybe life's busy but you can focus on something. And when we can focus on one thing, if all of us are focusing on one thing, what a powerhouse the church was.

What if we were a church that all had our passions and brought them together and made a difference in the world together as a team, as a church, that has called out and called together and made a difference? And you don't have to start something. Let me just be real with you. You don't have to start something. In fact, as a church, we've kind of made that.

We brought together that philosophy that we don't have the resources to start something, but we can partner with something. Join those who are doing it well. Join those who are already doing it, that already have it set up and are doing it well. You don't have to start something. Partner with somebody.

Just stay focused. The point is to stay focused on something, figure out something, aim towards it, let your passion, you know, carry you towards it, and focus on it, and let God do something amazing. Stay focused. Jesus was focused. Did you know that?

Jesus was focused. He had one goal when he came to this earth, and he said it over and over and over again because good leaders do that. They say the same thing over and over and over again, and he said this, I come so that they may have life. He also said it this way. He came not for the righteous, but for sinners, and he also said, I come not for the healthy, but the sick.

I come to set the captives free. I come to seek and save the lost. I leave the 99 and go for the one. He said it over and over and over again. He came for the sinner.

That was why he came to the world. This is why he was focused, and he had a passion that was focused, and Jesus was so focused that he was able to attract people that were willing to give their life or cause greater than themselves because he had a passion. He had a focus, and you can have that same passion and focus in whatever avenue, whatever track you're in, a passion, a focus. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, all three of you. Amen. It helps when I hear that, okay? He focused first on the Jews, just a few people, and he was so passionate. He said, if you want to be a part of my kingdom, you have to leave everything, and they did.

They left everything. Apathy repels. It does, but passion attracts. The question is, are you apathetic? Are you passionate?

Are you apathetic? Are you passionate? Lean in to the tension that God has placed, the burden that God has placed. You can make a huge difference if you focus on a single passion, or you can do very little with a scattered focus. The scattered focus.

Let me just get personal. My passion has always been the local church. I believe the local church is the hope of the world, and people are without Christ. And I believe the greatest way to connect people to Christ and lead them into a growing relationship with Christ is through the local church. And I stay focused on that passion, and that's why I'm here week after week.

That's why we focus on small groups. That's why we focus on getting people connected to the church. We want you to be fully involved because it leads you into a growing relationship with Christ. I don't want people to just know Jesus. I want them to experience Jesus.

I want them to be transformed by Jesus, and that is best through the local church. The reason we started Salt Church is so that we could lead people into a growing relationship with Christ, that they would experience the life-giving message of Jesus so they may become fully devoted followers and never turn back. And I will stay on that course, and I will say it over again. And some of you are sick of hearing me say it, but that's our focus. If I can focus on one passion, and if I can stay focused on that one passion, perhaps I can spark others into their passion.

And then we together, with a full passion for what we are called to be, can make a difference in this world. I believe that the church, I believe that Salt Church right here, right now, even in humble beginnings, can make a difference and make an impact right now. And we can watch what God can do and the power that God can do in this community, in this city, in this Hampton Roads area. We can do it. We can do it.

How many of you agree and believe with me on that? Through Jesus Christ, we have made more than conquerors. We are overcomers. We don't have to settle with apathy. We don't have to sit back and binge watch ourselves to sleep every night without purpose.

I'd rather be stuck with a tension, a burden in my heart, in my life. I think about Billy Graham, who just passed away recently. And he goes back to his story. He shared it many times, how he went to seminary, and he was going through, and he just had this aching heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ, just to share the simple message of Jesus with people. And for a period of time, he stepped away because he felt maybe he was going an academic direction.

And he began to think about being a professor, maybe a teacher, or something like that. And he started getting deep in the Word, which, you know, he was deep, I'm sure, in his general study time, but he felt like maybe that was the direction he was going. And then one day, he took a retreat out in the woods, and as he was struggling, which direction do I go? Because I feel the tension of sharing the gospel with people. But at the same time, I feel like I need to, you know, where do you want?

And God brought him right back. In fact, he began to throw out a gospel. He was going to share a message with a college graduation. He was going to take this message to a college graduation. It was just a simple message of Jesus Christ that he wanted to share with the people there.

But because it was a college graduation, he felt maybe I need to go back, and I need to rework this, and I need something a little more intellectual with these students that are graduating. And as he was out there, and he was putting it together, God just struck his heart, put a passion, put a tension in his heart. And he took that well-thought, planned message with Hebrew and Greek and all the things that any intellectual professor-type personality would put into their message and their sermon, and he balled it up, and he threw it out, and he pulled out the simple message of Jesus Christ, and he shared that. And from that day forth, he never strayed from it. And the rest is history, guys.

Y'all know what happened. Many of the people came to Christ through Billy Graham's simple gospel message because he had a passion. He had a burden. He had a burden. So here's what's going to happen.

Here's what's going to happen when you start to focus on one thing or a few things, that tension, when you start to stir that tension inside of you. Voices are going to say this, it's not possible. You can't do it. You're a simple person. You're only one person.

And the enemy's going to try to do everything he can to talk you out of it. You're going to have every excuse in the world because apathy makes excuses. Apathy makes excuses, but passion finds a way. Apathy makes excuses, but passion finds a way. It finds a way when there is no way.

It finds a way when there's nothing. It finds a way. God, if it's a God passion that's stirred in your heart, he will open up the doors. He will open up the way. Be persistent.

Practice resolve. You have a passion in your heart that's only God given, and you can make a difference. The devil, the enemy, is going to do everything it can to stir. It will deter you from your God-given path, but God's got a passion. He has placed in your heart.

So you need to not make excuses. Don't make excuses. Passion finds a way. And the second point I want to make is embrace what hurts. Embrace what hurts.

Don't run from it. Embrace it. And Paul says, my heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief. Do you know what bitter sorrow and unending grief feel like? I'm not sure it was, it was, it was a lot, there was a lot of happy moments during that time.

Where he was, he was feeling that burden. Bitter sorrow and unending grief. Here's the lie most believe. It's easier just not to care. It's easier not to care.

It's easier to go on with life. It's better not to get involved. Because it could cost me everything. And it's easier just to stay in my humble abode, my home and my family and in my box. And I just stay there.

And it's easier just, just to do that. It's easier not to care. But here's the thing. It's easier to hurt with a purpose than to exist without one. It's easier to hurt with a divine calling than to exist without one.

It's better to have a divine purpose, a divine calling. And I'd rather spend sleepless nights aching and waking up and hurting and being, carrying a burden in my heart. Than just wander through life, just binge watching and falling asleep and doing nothing. I want to exist for a purpose. God has called us to a purpose, a divine calling.

He has stirred something in your heart. Reach for it. Lean into it. He has something for you. And if you're, and if you're, if our Christianity is about comfort, then we are serving a false God.

If it's about comfort, it's about doing what we want to do, saying we're serving a false God. Our God desires for us to feel uncomfortable from time to time because he's speaking to us. And he wants us to carry that tension because we need to stir a righteous tension in our heart. And God is stirring that righteous intention. If I never give sacrificially, if I never serve, if I never pray for something that is creating this tension in me, if I just go back to my place on the beach in my little world and live my life out and collect seashells, and I'm before my father one day.

And he asked me, what am I, what have I done? And all I can do is tell him I have some nice seashells here. Quoting John Piper there a little bit. What have you done for my kingdom? I came to this earth, says Jesus, to save the lost, to heal the sick, those that are in need.

And all you did is live in comfort. And we have to stand before God one day. An account for that. And I want to be one who says, Lord, I gave everything. Even when it hurt.

The burden I wore, I wore it well, Lord Jesus. Because sometimes it's better to be blessed with a burden. They say blessed with a burden. We are blessed with a burden. It's better to be blessed with a burden than to just walk through life with nothing.

Just simply existing. Moses did it. He had a burden for his people. Let my people go, Pharaoh. David did it.

He was a shepherd boy. He says, who are you to come against the armies of God? Goliath. He had a burden. He had a passion in his heart.

Nehemiah said, we can't do this anymore. We have to build the wall. Let's come together. Let's not fight each other. Let's fight together for a cause.

Let's build the wall together. Jesus said, in his humbleness, his humility, he laid before the Father and says, Lord, there's sheep without a shepherd, and he worked in wee hours of the night and in the morning serving people when he needed to be resting himself because he saw people who were wanderers. There's a prayer, a Francine blessing that I want to share with you today, and I want us to kind of look at this on your notes. It's kind of, it's a re-indition of it kind of in our language, but this is what it says. It says, may God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice and oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice and freedom and peace. And may God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. I'd rather live with that prayer in my heart than simply exist and enjoy a comfortable life. God, stir our hearts, stir our lives.

Holy Spirit, help us, God. Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask today that you would stir the hearts of every individual in this room, God, that the Holy Spirit would just, Holy Spirit, just have your way. Just have your way. Pour a heaviness in this room for, stir attention in our hearts, Lord, for the things of you, for the heart of you, Lord Jesus. Help us seek your heart and not our own because our heart leads us astray, but your heart leads us into the fullness of life that we can experience.

We exist for you, God. You created us to exist for you, God. So help us, Lord, to lean in to our passion and our purpose and our divine calling. With all heads bowed and all eyes closed, staying in that spirit of worship, there are some here today without a shadow of a doubt that have not given their lives to Christ. Christ, and maybe you've just decided, you know, this is just time to find a church, come to church.

Somebody invited you to church, and you're here today, and maybe you've been out of church for a while. Maybe you've kind of walked away from God, but today, maybe this is your day to make, to recommit your life to Christ or make a decision for Christ. Say, I'm all in, Lord. Maybe that's you today. Maybe something struck you in this message.

Maybe it stirred your heart. Maybe something's just, your heart's just pounding out of your chest at one point, and that's called the Holy Spirit. That's God. That's the Holy Spirit working in your life, and maybe today's your day. And if it is, this is your opportunity.

You will never be the same. Give your life. Give your heart to Christ. Make a decision. If that's you today, if you would just raise your hand and say, I'm in, pastor.

I'm ready to make that decision. I'm ready, Lord. I'm ready, Lord. I'm leaning into you, that passion. Come on, church.

I'm ready. If you pray this with me, pray it from your heart. If you raised your hand or you didn't raise your hand, it doesn't matter. I just want to, I just want to know because I want to pray for you. But if you'll say this prayer with me.

Father, I believe that you are the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin. I'm making a decision today to receive your blood on my life. Because I'm far from you, Lord. And I receive it poured over me, Lord Jesus, poured over all of my sin. Today, I walk with you.

Thank you for dying on the cross. And rising again on the third day, proving that you are God. So I walk with the risen Lord from this day on forward. I walk with you, Lord. And I give my life to you.

I turn it completely over. In Jesus' name. Amen.